Ninetails
) |gender=Male (supposedly) |appearance=''Ōkami'' |location=Oni Island Ark of Yamato |weakness=Thunderstorm |attack=Head charge Rapid glaive stabs Dark glaive slash Tails spear Toxic liquid spray Celestial Brush techniques (Galestorm, Cherry Bomb and Icestorm) |weapon=Celestial Brush Ninestrike |reward=Blade of Kusanagi |bgm=''Demon Lord Ninetails' Extermination'' }} |border= |color=000}}Ninetails is a large, powerful, who rules Oni Island and is one of the major antagonists of Ōkami. Description As stated, Ninetails is a nine-tailed kitsune with fur of a golden color and nine tails. Each of its long tails ends with a brush-like tip dipped in red ink and hoods with masks just below the brushes. The central tail, which houses Ninetail's true form, also has a necklace of red beads around the mask. Ninetails wears a white mask with red markings, as a mockery of Amaterasu's divine appearance. However, when all of Ninetails' tails are destroyed but the central one, then the demonic kitsune is revealed to be a mere old and beaten up fox with a single tail and a lost eye (which was previously covered by its mask). In battle, Ninetails uses Ninestrike, the seemingly dark copy of Seven Strike, and other fighting techniques that are copies of Amaterasu's abilities, as a mockery of her. Ninetails can perform a charging headbutt across the arena, submerging its tails into the ground and following Amaterasu then spear her from below, raising its tails and spraying a toxic liquid, charging Ninestrike with dark energy before delivering a devastating slash, rapid slashes and stab with the Dark Instrument, and last but not least, using the Celestial Brush with the techniques of , and . Story Background Ninetails was the ruler of Oni Island. Yami had promised it to be lord of Ryoshima Coast. However, when Ninetails threatened the Dragonian race, King Wada used the to harness the powers of the Water Dragon and rose to face it. Ninetails gravely wounded the Water Dragon, but in the process the Dragon was able to pull Ninetails' Dark Instrument, the Fox Rods, the source of its power, from its grasp and swallowed it before returning to the bottom of the sea. Weakened, Ninetails was forced to kill and impersonate priestess Rao of Ankoku Temple to enter Sei'an City and get close to Queen Himiko in order to kill her before she could find the location of Oni Island. With the help of Blight, it poisoned Sei'an City with a toxic fog. However, when Amaterasu and Issun turned up and threatened to overturn their plan, the evil demons were forced to get rid of the interlopers. ''Ōkami In the form of Rao, Ninetails had Amaterasu retrieve Rao's Prayer Slips, incredibly powerful paper slips capable of defeating demons which it needed to further its disguise. It then claimed that the Fox Rods were actually a powerful holy object sought after by Queen Himiko and claimed they were in the Sunken Ship, a wrecked ship in the ocean near Ryoshima Coast sunk by the Water Dragon. It helped Amaterasu enter the ship and, using Rao's Prayer Slips, helped her conquer the demons within, but this was actually a plot to lure in the Water Dragon to consume Amaterasu: indeed, when the Water Dragon began chasing them on the way back to shore, it used its supernatural abilities to escape and left Amaterasu to the dragon. However, unbeknownst to Ninetails, Amaterasu evaded the beast and used a holy device found in the Sunken Ship, the Lucky Mallet, to defeat Blight, clearing the mist from Sei'an City. Although Ninetails' plans were foiled, it now saw a chance to use Amaterasu to retrieve the stolen Fox Rods. After an audience with Queen Himiko, Amaterasu ventured to North Ryoshima Coast. After much adventuring, she entered the Water Dragon and retrieved the Dragon Orb, a device which was said to be able to control the dragon. However, on the way, she also retrieved the Fox Rods. After the removal of the Dragon Orb, the Water Dragon died and Ryoshima Coast had now lost its guardian deity. 'Rao' then appeared and took the Fox Rods, claiming they would be used for good, and quickly departed. Amaterasu gave the Orb to the Dragonian queen, Otohime. It was revealed that the Water Dragon had actually been Otohime's husband, King Wada, who had used the power of the Dragon Orb to confer upon himself the power of the Water Dragon. In light of these sad revelations, the King's spirit sent one last message to the heroes through the Orb. He showed them an image of Rao being attacked at Ankoku Temple. Not knowing if the vision was in the past or the present, Amaterasu raced to Ankoku Temple. In front of Ankoku Temple, Amaterasu saw Rao, but she looked different, and moved like a ghost. Rao led Amaterasu to a secret cave with a well in it. Leaping down the well, Amaterasu found a secret tunnel containing the remains of a woman, wearing very familiar nuns' clothing. Continuing through the tunnel, the heroes ended up in a room of Queen Himiko's palace. However, they found the handmaiden who guarded the elevator to Himiko's quarters had been knocked unconscious. Hurrying to the queen, Amaterasu only found her lifeless corpse, with Rao standing near. Rao claimed the Dark Lord Ninetails had appeared and killed Himiko but Amaterasu was not fooled. Pouncing at 'Rao', Amaterasu attacked the fake priestess only for her to dodge the wolf's attack. It was then that Rao's true form was revealed: Ninetails, the Dark Lord of Ryoshima Coast. The vision sent by King Wada had not been a call to protect Rao, but had instead shown Rao's death at the hands of Ninetails. Ninetails attacked in a hybrid form, mixing Rao's body with its own fox face and abilities. It also consumed Himiko's Crystal ball, consuming the last means to find Oni Island. Amaterasu was able to defeat this creature, making her retch up Himiko's crystal ball, but Ninetails began to transform to its true form. However, the size of the room deterred its attack and instead it fled back to Oni Island, its true power restored by the Fox Rods. All hope seemed lost, but Queen Himiko's spirit appeared in her crystal ball. She had planned this all along, and had harnessed Ninetails' dark powers when the evil fox had consumed the ball, allowing her to pinpoint the place Oni Island was set to appear. But Amaterasu had to reach the island by sunset, or the island would shift its position, and all hope of stopping Ninetails would be lost. As Himiko spoke those words, the crystal ball shattered. Paying the price for using Ninetails' dark powers, Himiko ascended to the heavens, praying for Amaterasu's success as she left the mortal plain. Amaterasu and Issun ran to North Ryoshima Coast, but were doubtful, as Himiko had also previously said that Oni Island was protected by a mystic barrier which only the now-deceased Water Dragon could penetrate. As they arrived at Watcher's Cape they found Otohime, the Dragonians' queen, waiting for them. She had sensed Himiko's dying grief even from the depths of the sea, and knew what had to be done. The Water Dragon had died, but the Dragon Orb was the source of its power and, with a sincere prayer, Otohime could become the new Water Dragon and breach Oni Island's barrier. Utilizing the power of the Dragon Orb, Otohime became the Water Dragon, broke the barrier, and served as a living bridge to Oni Island. Amaterasu entered the dark fortress and made her way to the top, retrieving a new Celestial Brush Technique, Thunderstorm, along the way. However, when she reached an altar at the very peak of the island, there was nothing but a very sinister fox-shaped constellation in the sky. Amaterasu used her Celestial Brush to complete the constellation and in doing so, summoned Ninetails and challenged it to battle. The demon fox presented itself as a god, up to mocking the Celestial Brush Gods by fighting Amaterasu in an imitation of the plane to which the Gods are summoned, and Amaterasu herself by using corrupted forms of her Brush Techniques and having its spirits adopt the form of the slain Rao. After a fierce fight Amaterasu defeated eight of the nine spirits of Ninetails-which resided in the tips of its tails-destroying Ninetails' illusions of godhood. Instead, all that remained was a ferocious beast, hungering for more power. However, without the added power of its eight tails, Amaterasu was able to pierce the fox's defenses and ultimately slay it. However, the dark, sinister shadow which consumed Ninetails left and flew back to the northern lands. When Amaterasu entered the Ark of Yamato, she battled a revived Ninetails and defeated it once again. Bestiary entry ''"True form of the evil that dwells on Oni Island and seeks to destroy the Ryoshima Coast. 9 souls inhabit 9 tails, each acting independently. According to legend, Ninetails can only be defended against with the Celestial Brush. |Burning the tails}} will temporarily weaken it, and a |lightning strike to the sword causes the souls to split apart}}. Strike the final blow when the true form of the fox emerges." Strategy In order to begin the boss fight, Amatersu must complete the constellation in the sky, which is actually Ninetails pretending to be a god. It then gloats briefly and then fights Amaterasu in a faux version of the heavenly realm where she meets the Celestial Brush gods. There are two phases to the battle. In the first phase, Ninetails' form is a mock version of Amaterasu. Its attacks are either copies of Amaterasu's or usage of its tails. It will either do a powerful charge (a copy of Amaterasu's headbutt), attack with Ninestrike, raise its tails and spray a toxic liquids from their ends or send its tails underground to attack Amaterasu. If she tries to use any Celestial Brush techniques, Ninetails will use its own brush powers to try and cover up what she has drawn and use its own techniques to attack her, though this will only happen if she leave the brush screen on too long, so Amaterasu will be fine if she draws quickly. Ninetails can use Cherry Bomb, Galestorm and Icestorm. At times it will try and charge Ninestrike with dark energy. This is when Amaterasu must strike. By using Thunderstorm, she must electrocute Ninetails by drawing lightning to Ninestrike. This splits the fox into its nine separate tails, each of which takes on the appearance of an Evil Rao, but with distinct attributes. Most will use Evil Rao's normal attacks, but the very fat one will just try and punch Amaterasu and the old one will not attack but instead simply limping across the battlefield slowly. The Evil Rao formed by Ninetails' "original" tail will float above the battlefield, invincible, and will eventually summon all the tails that had not been killed back to reform. All tails will be invincible during the reforming process, so if all of the tails had not been killed, Amaterasu will have to try again the next time Ninetails raises Ninestrike. Once she has killed eight tails, the fake heavenly realm illusion will dissolve and Ninetails will be forced to show its true form; a battered, one-eyed fox with only one tail. It will no longer be able to perform any attacks with its tail or squirt toxic liquid, and will instead mostly use its charge attack, although this is much faster than before. Since Ninetails is weakened, it will stop and catch its breath, giving Amaterasu a chance to get a few blows. Ninetals will also still charge Ninestrike occasionally, which gives her a chance to hit it with Thunderstorm again. It will not split itself up again, but will instead take major damage and be stunned, allowing her to attack it more easily. It will eventually die and Oni island will dissolve into sakura petals. It is fought again on the Ark of Yamato, exactly the same as before, except this time it is not released from a constellation. Gender speculation Although Ninetails is thought of as female, it is referred to as "Lord" (it also claims Yami promised it it would be "Lord of Ryoshima Coast") and as 'Master'. However, these terms are usually masculine, used to refer to males. But it is also referred to as female, as Issun calls it a 'she', and it occupys Rao's body. It is questionable that it is actually female, so therefore it is assumed to be male. This could simply be because Issun only knew it as its female form, Evil Rao, and because he was still fuming about the real Rao and Himiko's deaths. Ninetails is also said to have occupied the body of a man before possessing Rao. Ninetails being female is further supported by the fact that some versions of the game (e.g. the German version) explicitly refer to Ninetails as such. It is possible that, like Amaterasu, Ninetails is considered female, but has no true gender due to being a supernatural entity. Quotes *''"By the power of Yami, ruler of the Land of Darkness, I, Ninetails, have been made lord of Ryoshima Coast!"'' *''"Fools! Did you really think it would be that easy!?"'' *''"Yami is the absolute ruler of all evil beings. He is the ultimate symbol of darkness. And he is nothing like those false Gods of your fairytales!"'' *''"Prepare to face the wrath of my terrible power! A power far beyond your so-called Gods!"'' *''"You did not have to come all this way for me to kill you. I would have found you and done so just the same."'' Gallery ninetails 2.png|Ninetails' emergence. Ninetails Constellation and Moon.png|Ninetails' dark moon and constellation. Capture Ninetails.png|Ninetails' true form as an old, one-tailed fox. Note the missing eye. ninetails.PNG|Ninetails Ninestrike.png|Ninetails' sword, Ninestrike. Trivia *When Ninetails uses the Celestial Brush, the ink it uses appears in red ink. *Just before it is released from a constellation, the moon is seen to be red, with a nine-tailed pattern. This is Ninetails' way of parodying how Amaterasu's finlets appear on the sun (such as when Sunrise is used and on the Day of Darkness). *The reason why "Rao's" other eye is never seen is that Ninetails' true form has lost that eye. *In the Ōkami Official Complete Works, it is stated that Ninetails is a demon who fancies itself as a god page 176, Ōkami Official Complete Works}}, hence the markings and unexpected ability over brush techniques. The boss stage is also based on the godly realm in which Amaterasu encounters Celestial Brush gods in. **According to Japanese mythology, a 's tails shows how old, wise, and powerful they are, with nine being the maximum. Also, when they obtain their , they reach an all-knowing state (omniscience), which makes them achieve divinity. There are people who make offerings to kitsune as they would to a deity. This explains why Ninetails has godlike characteristics and has the godly realm when it appears. However, as his battle with Amaterasu proved, it isn't as powerful as a real god. **The Ninetails' godly form and arena are actually an illusion; after all the tails are defeated, Ninetails' true form is revealed and the boss arena turns back into the altar at the top of Oni Island. This could be symbolic of Ninetails losing its supposed "godhood" after losing its tails. *Contrary to Ninetails's Bestiary entry, burning its tails with Inferno or Fireburst does not provide Amaterasu with any advantage in battle, since she can only hurt Ninetails when the tails are destroyed and the true tail is invulnerable to burning. The other eight tails will turn black when burnt, but will still attack normally and eventually return to their unburnt state. *Although Ninetails is supposedly female, the Bestiary for Evil Rao states that it also has a male form, which it used to sneak into Sei'an City and attack the real Rao. **The Ōkami Official Complete Works English version explicitly refers to Ninetails as a male. **Ninetails also claims that Yami made it lord of Ryoshima Coast. "Lord" is a male title and it speaks with a deeper voice in its true form. **Issun always refers to Ninetails as a female, but this is probably because he only encounters its female form, Evil Rao. **Much like Amaterasu, Ninetails may be gender-neutral, being a supernatural entity which may be able to change the gender of its human form. *Ninetails' actions when during possession of Rao's identity are nearly identical to the legend of , a courtesan of Emperor Konoe. According to the legend, Tamamo-no-Mae was very beautiful, always had a fragrant scent, and was very neat and clean. Despite her youthful appearance, she was very knowledgeable in all things and was quite intelligent. One day, the Emperor fell ill, and, after much investigation, it was revealed that Tamamo-no-Mae had poisoned him. It turned out that she was an evil kitsune who was trying to kill the Emperor. She was then hunted down and slain. **This reflects how "Rao" was eternally young and beautiful, as well as very knowledgeable, and, to a lesser extent, how she tried to kill the Emperor with the aid of Blight. *Ninetails shares many characteristics with the Pokémon, Ninetails. They are of the same color, have the same race as kitsune, and have identical sounding names. __NOWYSIWYG__